Average chicory harvest does not exist this year

The end of the chicory campaign is over. In all 4 main cultivation regions (Southwest, South East and North East Netherlands and Wallonia) growers have completed the first 4 weeks of harvesting. The campaign started in the first week of September. "We have made an important decision: is it wise to harvest already or is it better to start a little later?" says René Schunselaar, agricultural manager at processing company Sensus. "That has everything to do with the yield expectations."

Delay at start
“The start of the growing season had its fair share of challenges,” Schunselaar continues. And with that he expresses himself softly. Dust damage on the sandy soils and poor soil structure on the clay, among other things, made the sowing conditions challenging. "The start has been delayed left and right. We monitored the development of the crop closely in the summer and came to the conclusion that it would be best to start at the usual time. But at an adjusted pace. We let slightly fewer hectares are cleared in the first weeks than in other years."

This should ensure the most optimal balance between quality and quantity. "With chicory, not only the amount of inulin plays a role, but also its quality," Schunselaar explains. "This builds up in the summer until about October. In the autumn the plant goes into hibernation mode and the quality of the inulin decreases. This process accelerates towards December and January. At the same time, you also want to harvest sufficient amounts. So far However, we are happy that we started on time. In the first weeks of the campaign we hardly saw any increase in revenues."

Inulin levels increased
According to Schunselaar, these yields vary considerably. From 20 tons per hectare at the bottom to peaks of 50 tons per hectare. "An average hardly exists this year. Certainly not so early in the season." However, he is pleased to note that the inulin level has increased over the past 4 weeks. "We started cautiously around 16,5 to 16,6. We are now at 17 and that is fine. The tare percentage is the same story, but in the other direction. The first weeks we were at 10 to 12%, but it has now that below 10%."

Figures that, according to Sensus, match the ambition to ultimately achieve a yield of 10 tons of inulin per hectare with chicory cultivation. Schunselaar: "We have allocated 10 years to the associated program to improve crop yields and are now about halfway done. We started at 7 tons per hectare. The road up is of course never a straight line, because you have to deal with seasonal influences. If I look at the average over the past 5 years, I see 3% progress per year in returns."

Steps forward
With an inulin content of 17, yields will need to be between 40 and 60 tons to achieve the ultimate goal. "I expect that there are growers who will arrive there this year," says Schunselaar. And according to him, the steps that are taken together every year offer sufficient perspective. A lot is invested in cultivation and knowledge development and the variety package.

According to Schunselaar, you could label chicory as a simple crop. "But provided that germination and emergence have been successful and you as a grower have the right plant numbers. If you can also keep the weeds under control, you can expect a good yield and a crop that grows almost automatically In principle, not much can go wrong. Whether it is cold, wet, hot or dry."

Differences bigger
Roughly 75% of cultivation problems occur in the early stages of cultivation. That was exactly where the crux was this year. A difficult start led to low plant numbers and irregular germination in many places. "Quite a few plots have been oversown. Where this has not been done, you cannot expect top yields. This is unfortunate for the growers who are affected. In chicory the differences are always large, but now even more so than in other years."